5.  The applicant was born in 1964 and lives in Split. She is unemployed and unwaged.
6.  From October 1996 the applicant occupied a room and common premises of a privately owned flat in Split together with other tenants. On 2 August 1999 the applicant found that the lock of the entrance door to the flat had been changed and that her belongings had been removed from the flat. The applicant called the police, who drew up a report. On 3 August 1999 the applicant brought a civil action in the Split Municipal Court (Općinski sud u Splitu) against two individuals, M.P. and I.P., seeking protection against the disturbance of her occupation of a room and common premises in the flat.
7.  After a first-instance judgment by default of 16 September 1999 had been quashed at a hearing held on 9 November 1999 before the Split Municipal Court, subsequent hearings were held on 21 December 1999, 22 February, 28 March, 3 May and 7 June 2000, when a fresh judgment, allowing the applicant’s claim, was adopted. It was, however, quashed by the Split County Court (Županijski sud u Splitu) on 17 August 2000 and the case was remitted to the Municipal Court.
8.  In the fresh proceedings the Municipal Court held hearings on 7 June, 5 September and 22 November 2001 and 22 January, 26 February, 3 April and 14 May 2002. On this latter date a judgment ordering that the applicant was to regain her co-occupation of the flat in question was adopted. A subsequent appeal by the defendants was declared inadmissible in a decision of the Split Municipal Court, adopted on 24 May 2002, which was upheld by the Split County Court on 7 March 2003.
9.  Since the defendants in the civil proceedings had failed to comply with the judgment of 14 May 2002, the applicant applied to the Split Municipal Court on 31 March 2003, seeking an enforcement order. The order was issued on 10 April 2003. The defendants lodged an appeal. The execution of the order was scheduled for 5 June 2003. It was duly carried out. However, on 6 June 2003 the applicant was thrown out of the flat (see paragraph 13 below). Accordingly, on 2 July 2003 she requested the Split Municipal Court to resume the enforcement proceedings.
10.  On 26 August 2004 the Split County Court allowed the defendants’ appeal, quashed the enforcement order of 10 April 2003 and remitted the case to the Split Municipal Court. The latter, on 18 March 2005, invited the applicant to amend her request. The applicant submitted an amended request on 26 April 2005. On 29 March 2007 the Municipal Court again invited the applicant to amend her request. The applicant submitted the amended request on 13 April 2007. On 24 April 2007 the Municipal Court invited the applicant to adjust her request within eight days. On 8 January 2008 the Split Municipal Court dismissed the applicant’s request for the enforcement proceedings to be resumed.
11.  On 9 August 2002 the applicant complained to the Constitutional Court (Ustavni sud Repbulike Hrvatske) about the length of the civil proceedings described above. In a decision of 18 March 2005 the Constitutional Court dismissed the complaint as ill-founded, finding that the proceedings had been concluded within a reasonable time.
12.  On 10 April 2007 the applicant lodged a complaint about the length of the enforcement proceedings with the Split County Court. On 31 March 2008 the County Court allowed the complaint, found a violation of the applicant’s right to a hearing within a reasonable time, awarded her 5,000 Croatian kunas (HRK) in compensation and ordered the Municipal Court to complete the enforcement proceedings within three months, although in fact those proceedings had already ended with the Split Municipal Court’s decision of 8 January 2008. The County Court examined the length of the enforcement proceedings with reference to the period from 31 March 2003 until 31 March 2008.
13.  On 6 June 2003, the day after the applicant had regained possession of the flat in question, she was attacked by three individuals, two women and a man, upon her arrival in front of the flat. During the incident of 6 June 2003 the police were called and arrived on the scene. They interviewed the applicant and drew up a report. The relevant part of the report reads as follows:
“[The applicant] stated that at about 8 p.m. she had been verbally and physically attacked by three individuals when she had attempted to enter a flat ... The attackers had pulled her hair, hands and clothes and thrown her down the stairs from the first floor. They had also insulted her by shouting obscenities ... She further stated that they had threatened to kill her if she came back.
...
There were visible bruises and contusions on Sandra’s right hand and her shirt was torn at the back. She asked for medical assistance after the interview.
...”
14.  On 10 June 2003 the police lodged a complaint with the Split Minor-Offences Court against three individuals, including J.M., for disturbance of public peace and order, alleging that they had physically attacked the applicant, kicked her entire body, pulled her by the hair and pushed her down the stairs, all the while shouting obscenities at her. The first hearing in the proceedings was held on 4 February 2005.
15.  In a decision of 11 May 2005 the Split Minor-Offences Court found all three defendants guilty of insulting the applicant with defamatory expressions and sentenced them to a fine in the amount of HRK 375. As to allegations of the physical assault on the applicant they found that there were insufficient evidence in that respect.
16.  However, this decision did not become final since the applicant lodged an appeal, complaining that the Minor-Offences Court had not addressed her allegations of physical assault. On 8 June 2005 the same Minor-Offences Court terminated the proceedings on the ground that the prosecution in respect of the offences with which the defendants were charged had meanwhile become time-barred. The applicant lodged an appeal. Both appeals lodged by the applicant were dismissed on 12 February 2007 by the High Minor-Offences Court.
17.  In a detailed criminal complaint of 2 October 2003 filed against seven individuals with the Split Municipality State Attorney’s Office (Općinsko državno odvjetništvo Split) the applicant alleged, inter alia, that on 6 June 2003 at about 8 p.m., when she had arrived in front of the flat in question, three individuals, J.M., N.M and J.M.L., had come out of the flat, shouting at her and preventing her from entering the flat. They had attacked her physically, insulted her and threatened her, telling her not to come back or she would disappear and “be disposed of”. The applicant also submitted medical evidence showing that she had sustained blows to her elbow and tailbone.
18.  In a decision of 11 November 2003 the State Attorney’s Office decided not to open an official investigation on the ground that the act in question qualified as a criminal offence of inflicting bodily injuries of a lesser nature and that a prosecution for that offence had to be brought privately by the victim. The decision, inter alia, stated:
“In her criminal complaints [the applicant] stated that on 6 June 2003 about 8 p.m. in front of a flat in Split ..., the suspects had verbally attacked her and insulted her, kicked her with their hands and legs all over her body, pulled her hair and pushed her down the stairs while J.M. had also threatened her not to come back to the flat or otherwise she would disappear.
...”
The applicant was also instructed to proceed accordingly and to lodge within eight days a request for an investigation with a Split County Court investigation judge.
19.  The applicant complied with the said instruction on 3 December 2003 and submitted a request to a Split County Court investigation judge seeking to have an investigation opened in connection with the above event. She sought an investigation in respect of seven individuals, including J.M., N.M. and J.M.L., listing their names and addresses. She proceeded to describe the event in question in detail, specifying the acts carried out by her three attackers. She made a list of evidence in support of her allegations, including medical documentation about the injuries she had sustained and the police report issued on 6 June 2003. She further alleged that these acts constituted, inter alia, the criminal offence of making threats under Article 129 of the Criminal Code and the criminal offence of violent behaviour under Article 331 of the same Code. She specified her allegations in respect of each of the individuals concerned.
20.  On 5 January 2005 the Municipal Court invited the applicant to amend her request within eight days so as to include a description of the offence, the legal classification of the offence and circumstances showing that there was a well-founded suspicion that the individuals in question had committed criminal offences, as well as evidence supporting her allegations. On 26 January 2005 the applicant submitted an amended request, repeating in essence the same allegations as in her initial request. In her further submissions of 30 May 2005 the applicant submitted some documents from the minor-offences proceedings.
21.  On 19 September 2005 the Split County Court investigation judge declared the applicant’s request for an investigation (istažni zahtjev oštećene kao tužiteljice) inadmissible. The relevant part of this decision reads:
“The injured party, acting as subsidiary prosecutor (oštećena kao tužitelj), has lodged with this court a request for an investigation in respect of J.M. and others ...
Pursuant to Article 71, paragraph 3, of the Code of Criminal Procedure, this court invited the injured party acting as subsidiary prosecutor on 5 January 2005 and once again orally, to amend her request and warned her that it would be declared inadmissible if she did not comply with the instruction within the set time-limit. The injured party acting as subsidiary prosecutor answered both calls but has failed to amend her request for an investigation in accordance with the court’s instruction. The court considers the injured party’s submission incomprehensible and incomplete. Therefore, it has to be declared inadmissible pursuant to Article 71, paragraph 3, of the Code of Criminal Procedure.”
22.  On 16 January 2006 the applicant lodged an appeal against the above decision with the Split County Court. She claimed that she had fully complied with the instructions given in the court’s letter of 5 January 2005 amending her initial request for an investigation so that it contained all the necessary information. She further contended that she had never received an oral invitation. On 9 February 2006 the Split County Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal, finding that “the submissions lodged by the subsidiary prosecutor are incomprehensible and incomplete”. The applicant lodged a further appeal against that decision.
23.  On 23 April 2007 the applicant also complained to the Supreme Court (Vrhovni sud Republike Hrvatske) about the length of the criminal proceedings. On 20 September 2007 the applicant’s complaint was dismissed and she was instructed to lodge such a complaint with the Constitutional Court. On 21 November 2007 the applicant lodged a complaint about the length of proceedings with the Constitutional Court, before which it is still pending.
24.  The applicant’s appeal was declared inadmissible by the Split County Court on 17 June 2008. On 23 June 2008 the applicant lodged a fresh appeal, which is still pending.